On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forestville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forestville’s overall grade.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Forestville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Forestville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Major Joseph McCormick was the first white man to settle in Forestville. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. He won his military title in the Mexican War. He discovered what he thought was a layer
of marble. McCormick is responsible for bringing a great many settlers to Forestville. He spoke persuasively of the marble quarries, the water power, and the timber resources.
Passages that mention Forestville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 46Read the page →
Read the text
The early settlers of Forestville made their way to that vicinity by navigating the Ahnapee River, which stream runs through a portion of that town. The Ahnapee is still navigated to considerable extent up as far as Van Norstrand's saw mill, town of Forestville. J. Fetzer & Co. own, and keep busy a light-draught steamer and two barges, which freight forest products down the river. Public highways, kept in excellent traveling condition, to and from Green Bay, Ahnapee, and all
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 18Read the page →
Read the text
3 and 4, and Hat Island, and all the tiers of townships extendiag north of the town line of Otumba, except Washington Island, be organized into one township under the name of Gibraltar. Forestville was also set off at this meeting, embracing also the territory now included in the town of Clay Banks; all the rest of the county being included in the town Otumba.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Forestville, 1874 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Forestville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Forestville?
25% of Forestville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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